Why you should get a coach over a training plan.

The road and TT season is quickly coming to an end and the dreaded winter is not far away. Why is this important? This is the perfect time to get a coach, have a full winter build and come into next year in the form of your life.

There are a lot of people who turn to generic training plans or one-off sessions, although this may be a lot cheaper do you really get the most amount of benefit from it? Will you make the improvements that you want? Or would you benefit from a coach? Here are the reasons that you might…

Knowledge and Experience

This can be one of the main attractions of a coach. The coach will be able to bring knowledge about training, racing, nutrition and tactics as well as plenty of experience to draw from. They will be able to explain why you are training like you are and the science and methodology behind it.

The generic training plan will never be able to include this element due to the 1 on 1 contact that you will have with a coach. They can impart their knowledge to you so that you have a better understanding of training and how to apply yourself.

Coaches will also have a plethora of personal and professional experience which will be used to overcome problems like plateaus in performance or tactics to use in your races or events.

They will also be qualified and have experience using software such as TrainingPeaks, WKO and best bike split which will be used to draw upon things which might have been overlooked to make sure that everything is optimised.

The coach will also learn your unique physiology. How you work, what suits you best and what you respond best to. This makes a huge difference and can lead to massive improvements in performance by making everything specific and tailored to you.

Adaptations to training

Unfortunately, most of us are not professionals and have to have other life commitments which can get in the way of training. So, what happens when something comes in the way of training and you can’t complete the training? The coach can easily make adaptations to training and re adjust to suit your personalised needs. They can plan your training to come back from an injury or could find you the best way to reach the form needed for your main event.

I have seen time and time again that when people are not able to complete a training session, they just swap it to the next day. However, what they don’t understand is that this changes the whole dynamic of the training for that next period. There is now more stress in areas which would not have been planned and less in the areas that they are needed which may cause over training through lack of adequate recovery. Having a coach takes all of this away from the athlete, a simple message to the coach and the training is adjusted to make sure you can still get the same benefits as intended.

Accountability

One of the other main attractions of a coach is having a form of accountability which comes with getting a coach. There can be a big increase in motivation from having the feeling that someone is ‘looking over your shoulder’ and could give you that extra incentive you need to get on the bike deep into the winter.

There are also people who don’t want to look bad in front of their coach or are constantly trying to impress them. They may also be an incentive to get a return on the investment that you have made so want to stick completely to the plan to get the most return for their money as they can.

Motivation

It’s very common to see self-coached riders pushing themselves hard all year round. They always want to be in top form and riding at their best, that could be for a variety of reasons but much of it comes down to extrinsic motivation. This type of training is not sustainable and will not lead to long term development. Having a coach takes this thought process away and can tell you exactly when to push yourself and when to scale it back.

The coach will also be there to give you that pep talk after a bad race or training session. Having a coach who really has passion for the sport and drive to help you succeed also gives you a sense that someone is ‘in your corner’ which people can take a huge amount of motivation and encouragement from.

The mental side of the sport can be just as important as the physical side and having the extra motivation and support can be invaluable. You can win every race and sometimes you need someone to talk to and have there to support you.

Peak and taper

The majority of people who are looking and considering a coach are looking for a specific race/event or target. Therefore, you are looking to peak to reach the event in the best possible shape.

Having a training plan will look to calculate the ‘ideal’ training stress and try to bring your fitness up at the right time. However, the plan will not be able to adjust the training and allow you to still reach the target in peak fitness in a shorter amount of time. The plan will not understand your body, the way that you work or the demands and stress you have outside of training that a coach would.

The coach will have an overall picture of your physiology and psychology to make things tailored and specific to you. The plan is based on a computer algorithm.

Cost

The main reason why people are put off coaching Is the cost. We offer coaching at £50, £75 and £100 per month so it can seem like a big investment to make and people may not be sure if they will receive enough benefit. However, spending £1000+ on a set of wheels would be considered a smart investment. Your performance and results will see much more of a return by investing your money in a coach.

Get in contact for a free consultation

Use our ‘Contact Us’ page to get in contact and we can offer a free consultation for you to see if a coach would be a wise investment for you.